ROME, N.Y. — Five staff at a state prison in Oneida County became sick when an unknown substance was snuck into the prison over the weekend, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and State Police.
What happened
DOCCS says a visitor to Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome tried to bring in papers soaked in an unknown substance on Sunday.
Three guards and two National Guard members became sick when they were exposed to the substance. All five of them were brought to local hospitals for treatment.
The National Guard members and one guard have been released from the hospital, according to DOCCS and State Police. They say another guard remains hospitalized in critical condition.
About the woman charged
State Police arrested the suspect, 53-year-old Shondrea Taylor of Syracuse, shortly after she left the facility. She was taken into custody without incident.
According to State Police, Taylor entered the facility under the pretense of visiting an inmate and tried to deliver the materials at the direction of an unidentified person.
Taylor is charged with two counts of promoting prison contraband and was issued an appearance ticket returnable to the City of Rome Court.
State Police say a preliminary assessment of the substance was inconclusive, and the materials will undergo further laboratory analysis.
Statements from DOCCS and NYSCOPBA
In a statement to News10NBC’s Utica affiliate, President of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Bryan Hluska said:
“Correctional officers constantly put their health and safety on the line every single day. In this tragic incident, a visitor smuggled a dangerous and potentially deadly substance into the facility. Because of their unwavering commitment to duty, we now have one officer in the ICU, sedated and intubated. This is the brutal daily reality for our members as they risk everything to keep contraband out of our prisons, often without any idea what lethal substances they might encounter. Smuggling techniques are getting more sophisticated by the day, and the flood of potent drugs into these environments has become a deadly crisis.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
See the statement posted by DOCCS on social media:
How many National Guardsmen are employed at state prisons?
DOCCS told us that about 2,700 National Guard members in DOCCS correctional facilities, with nearly 3,000 total National Guard members on the mission.
They were first called into prisons back in February of last yea when prison guards went on strike.
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